Visions from Long Ago
by KrystalizedRubies
Summary: It was a fantasy that lasted years, one he didn't let go. But when everyone else began to leave, he was forced to forget. Now, 8 years later, he is left wondering what is happening when the world he left behind is slowly beginning to come back. But not in a way he expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I actually have the first 5 chapters written, with 6 in progress, but I'm constantly proofreading them (since I wrote the first 4 chapters in 3 days) and making sure they're how I want them to be. I actually was going to put off posting this chapter until next year or so, but I'm actually attending an anime convention this weekend and yesterday when I went there was an actual mint condition Bakugan poster with Dan and Masquerade (*swoon*) on it. When I went today, I asked the guy who owned it if I could have it and he gave it to me for FREE! So now I have my childhood staring at me as I write and let me tell you, that is a _lot _of motivation. So that's why I'm posting chapter 1 now. Depending on responses, I may have chapter 2 up soon (I'm on break so I can post all 5 that are written periodically after I've proofread them one more time,) but that isn't asking for any "I LOVE THIS!" reviews. Give me criticism guys. I can handle it. And criticism isn't _flames. _It's showing my faults and then giving me advice on how to make it better. I would appreciate reviews saying how much you love this story, but I would also appreciate you showing me what I did right and wrong. **

**Thanks.**

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><p><em>"This is not the end, this is not the beginning." - <span>Linkin Park, "Waiting for the End"<span>_

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><p>"<em>Heyah!" Stick met stick as two young boys around the ages of 5 or 6 attacked each other. One of the boys had spiky chestnut colored hair with amber colored eyes. His skin was a olive color. He wore a yellow t-shirt with blue shorts and red sneakers. On top of his head were a pair of green goggles, firmly placed there. The other boy had auburn colored hair in a bowl cut, with pale colored skin and warm brown eyes. That boy wore a black shirt and jeans. He went barefoot.<em>

"_Give it up, Dan. You won't win. You'll never get her." The auburn haired boy taunted as he began to push back the brown haired boy. Dan couldn't keep up with his strategic movements which were a combination of power and clever usage of the environment around them (which was a clear meadow.) The auburn haired boy was going to win. Dan's face began to reflect that realization._

_But he wouldn't give up. Dan's movement of his arm began to get erratic, focusing on using pure strength to break the other boy's guard. Unfortunately, the auburn haired boy treated his attacks as though they were hits from an infant, blocking them with ease, and then hitting away Dan's stick-blade, leaving him open for an attack. _

_He was going to lose. At least, it seemed that way until..._

"_Shun!" Dan yelled out. The auburn haired boy turned to see a young boy appear behind him. With black hair that fell to his shoulders and big amber eyes, he wore a green vest and tan shorts. In his hands were two sticks, which he began to attack with in quick, fluid motions, busying the auburn haired boy. _

_It left him open to attacks._

_Dan quickly prepared to attack him, when he heard the words that would seal his fate._

"_Vren yagasham krerani, yegan, lyrim fror yega ni, Hydranoid(1)!" A quiet voice exclaimed. Immediately Shun and Dan stopped their attacks, knowing it was the end for them. They couldn't compete with that. There was a feeling in their stomachs that let them know the beast was there, distinct from any other feeling by the wave of nausea that overcame them._

_Begrudgingly, Dan admitted, "You win" to the auburn haired boy, who in turned laughed._

"_Seems you couldn't compete against the Kingdom of Darkness and its great beast." He boasted. Dan rolled his eyes._

"_We woulda beat you if ya didn't have it." He said. _

"_But you didn't."_

"_But we woulda!"_

_Shun came between them. "Settle down. Even though, Markus, you know he is right."_

"_That does not matter now, does it?" Markus replied. "You two lost. You now know what you must do."_

"_Oh shut up!" Dan retorted. "You can't even remember the summon chant for your beast! It's all because of Alice that you won!" Dan pointed to the young girl to the left of Markus about 8 feet away. She looked similar to Markus, but her hair was long, reaching her back. She wore a pearly white dress that reached her knees and white slippers. She looked taken back by that statement, as if surprised that she would have an impact on whether Markus won. _

_Markus folded his arms with a "better-than-thou" attitude._

"_Now now, let me point this out to you," he began, "In the beginning, it was you against I, was it not?" Dan nodded. "Alice played no part in it. When you began to lose, Shun helped you. Correct?" Dan nodded again. "So we summoned our beast. Either way, you would have lost."_

"_Would not! Not if Maru-chan had joined in!" Dan pointed out. "He knows his beast!" He gestured to the young blond boy who sat to the side. He had a bowl haircut and wore blue overalls over a light blue shirt. A pair of red glasses were covering his eyes. Markus let out another laugh._

"_As if! Hydranoid would devour Preyas and he knows it. That's why the Kingdom of Water didn't join in this battle. Face it, Dan. The Kingdom of Darkness rules over all." A young girl with dark colored skin walked towards Markus. She had silver hair that was tied in a pixie cut. She wore a white dress similar to Alice's, but with a floral design. She had been sitting on the sides next to Maru-chan. _

"_Because the Kingdom of Darkness won, the Kingdoms of Earth and Darkness will now unify." She said. Dan groaned._

"_No, Julie!" He pouted in defeat. "Damn it!" He abruptly turned to the girl who sat next to Maru-chan. She had light teal colored hair in pigtails, and crystal blue eyes. She wore a white shirt and jeans with blue gym shoes. "Runo, it's all your fault! You should have helped." _

_Runo shrugged with a smile. "It's not my fault. The Kingdoms of Light and Darkness have the Treaty of Opposition, preventing them from opposing each other in war. It was either I fight against you or I fight for no one. I think the latter worked best." Dan stuck out his tongue._

"_Whatever! Next time you need help, the Kingdom of Fire won't help out!" Dan exclaimed._

"_Hey, what should we name this treaty?" Alice asked. This prompted all of them to think._

"_Oh, I know! The treaty of Dan wake up! Wake up Daniel! Wak_e up!"

Danma/Daniel(2) "Dan" Kuso jumped as he was awaken by the sound of his mother. She was standing to the side of his bed, glaring at him. "Get up! You'll be late for practice!" Kuso Miyako exclaimed. Dan looked over at his digital alarm clock, which said the current time was five forty-seven. He sat up and rubbed his head.

"Alright mom, I'm up." By the time he said that, Miyako was already out of his room. Dan got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Once he got out of the shower, he changed into his navy blue Gakuran uniform and went downstairs.

"Daniel, do you want breakfast-?" Miyako was cut off by the door slamming, a sure sign that Dan had left the house.

Dan calmly walked the familiar way to school, not really paying attention. His body knew the way by heart, having walked that path since he began high school. He was only a first year, but he was on the sakka(3) team due to his extraordinary skills. That meant he had to attend practice at the same time as the other team members, which was at six thirty. After checking his watch, Dan realized he had 15 minutes to make it there on time. He had enough time.

On his way, his mind drifted to his dream, which was vivid in his memories. He recognized it. It was a memory from years ago, back when...he shook his head, and hit himself. "Bad Dan." He whispered, ignoring the glances he gained. He usually tried to keep those times locked away in the back of his mind. It was weird he had a dream about it. He hadn't even thought about those days in months.

He let out a grin as he slowly allowed himself to remember. He used to be the king of the Kingdom of Fire. His beast was a dragon named Drago (not that original, now that he thinks about it, but he was 5 at the time) and the Kingdom of Fire's patron beast was Apollonir (named after the Greek God he was learning about at that time.) He had an alliance with the Kingdom of Wind and the Kingdom of Water.

The day he had dreamed about was the time he had been fighting about an important subject: who would the Kingdom of Earth align with. He wanted the power of the Kingdom of Earth at the time, but the Kingdom of Darkness had beaten him.

"Drago..." Kami that name felt good to say. He hadn't spoken it in years, not since he was around 7 or 8. He looked up at the sky in remembrance. He could vividly see the dragon, with his red scales and golden horns. He reached up, too far into his daydream to tell apart fiction from reality when-

"Hey!" He bumped into someone. They turned around and both persons eyes widened. Dan recognized her anywhere. With light teal hair in pig tails, wearing a white blouse with a tan tie and navy blazer along with a navy blue skirt. She also had on white socks and light tan loafers. This girl was nicknamed "the Real Hatsune Miku." She was Misaki Runo.

"Pay attention to where you're-" She stopped when she saw who it was. "Dan...?"

"Oh, um. I'm sorry, I'll just-" Dan stepped back and quickly walked around her and her friends. He didn't look back at her. He felt stupid for not speaking to her, avoiding her even though they're in the same class at the same school. But he had to hurry to practice, and quite frankly, he really didn't want to talk to her.

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><p>Runo watched as the boy walked away quickly from her, quickly disappearing from sight. She wanted to call out to him, but all she did was stand there and watch him leave.<p>

"Hey, Runo?" The girl next to her, her friend Asuka, waved her hand in front of her. "Come on. We have to go or we'll be late for practice." Runo blinked and nodded.

"Right."

As they finished their walk, Runo could only watch the path she knew Dan would take to school. She hated that she didn't call out to him. She hated that she hadn't spoken to him. Asuka nudged her in the arm. "Runo? You okay?"

"Of course I am." Runo smiled. "What makes you think something's wrong?" Asuka shrugged.

"You've just been out of it since that guy bumped into you." She pointed out. "Do you know him or something?" Runo nodded a bit.

"Yeah. I do."

"That's Kuso Danma." Asuka said.

"Yeah."

"The first year that became a regular on the sakka team. And the Kendo team."

"Did he?" Runo didn't know that. She didn't really pay attention to Dan.

"Yeah. He's only one of the most sought after guys in the grade." Asuka explained. "And you know him." Runo nodded.

"A childhood friend." She took in the information. Sakka? Runo expected that. Dan loved the sport as a child. Kendo? It almost made her want to laugh. Who was he trying to beat now? There were no more battles and wars. The thought that Dan actually liked the sport crossed her mind, but she shook it off because she knew Dan. He could make excuses all he wanted, but it was those days from years before that made him join Kendo. It was a fact. Though him continuing to play the sport was a bit surprising.

"Oh." Asuka said. She said nothing more on the matter as the reached the school just on time. They had to make it to Kyūdō(4) dojo within minutes, and quickly changed into more appropriate clothing of a hakama with her muneate(5) underneath. Runo grabbed her yumi(6)-one she had been using for years, made by her own hands- from its case. On her right hand was her shitagake(7), covered by her mitsugake(8). She covered her left hand in fudeko(9) and grabbed her yazutsu(10) filled with ya(11).

Before Asuka was even ready, Runo was quickly firing. Her mitsugake made for quick shots with its flexibility. She had been practicing kyūdō for many years now, so the basic formations and procedures were a second nature to her. Before she knew it, she was out of ya and the omato(12) was filled with them.

"Sugoi!" Asuka exclaimed as she began the Ashibumi(13) stage. "You're a natural at this." Runo shrugged.

"I have been practicing since I was 11." Even though practice before the age of 15 was illegal, Runo remembers begging her parents to let her train in the art of Kyūdō. It had grown from her love of archery, which she took up at the age of 6. She wanted to be better so she could play that silly game she used to play, where she would be the ruler of a section of a world called Vestroia. There would be many battles, and it all seemed so real to her that she felt she needed training. Runo would laugh at herself back then, and her overactive imagination. But it did eventually lead to a lifelong love.

"I wonder how your parents agreed to that." Asuka muttered. "I can barely get mines to let me go out." Runo giggled.

"Pay attention." She instructed. She and Asuka would be the only ones in the dojo until school started. It was one of the reasons Runo even wanted to go to Wardington Prefecture high school-its academics weren't that great, but the athletics department was top notch, alma mater to some world champions. She gained permission to train before school when Asuka begged her to help her, Runo having quickly distinguished herself from the others as a first year who made 5th dan(14) level.

"Stay calm. Something I like to do is imagine the ya as an extension of myself. You have to synchronize with it to get it to go where you need it." Runo explained. "Take your time. You need to get used to the yumi also." Asuka took the time needed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before letting go of the ya and opening her eyes.

"Good." Runo said. "Let's see you do this with your eyes open."

Asuka gave up for that day around seven forty five. They still had a little less than an hour left before school. "You're a hard teacher." Asuka complained. Runo grinned.

"Guess I inherited it." Asuka rolled her eyes.

"Hey, want to see Kuso-kun practice?" Runo wanted to puke at "Kuso-kun", but held it back.

"Since when was Dan "Kuso-kun"?" She asked.

"Since you told me you knew him." Asuka replied. "Come on. Introduce me." Runo rolled her eyes.

"If you couldn't tell from before, we're not exactly on speaking terms."

"Well get on it!" Asuka began to pull her towards the field used for physical education and sakka along with many other sports. The sakka team was currently practicing. As they got closer, Runo could make out Dan's form running back and forth quickly, aiming for the ball.

Asuka and she watched the practice until they stopped for a mini break. Dan looked around and noticed them (well, noticed Asuka waving at him) and walked over to them with a confused look on his face.

"Look, I said I was sorry." He said upon reaching them. "You don't have to stalk me."

"Trust me Dan, I wouldn't stalk you even if Markus paid me to." Runo replied nonchalantly. "Sadly, my friend wanted to meet you. For what reason, I don't know." Dan looked at Asuka for confirmation, and she nodded.

"I'm Shirodo Asuka! I've been a huge fan of you for a few months now." Asuka bowed. Dan seemed a bit awkward, but nodded.

"Kuso Danma." He introduced. "Sorry you have the displeasure of knowing her." Runo's eyes narrowed and she coughed.

"I'm right here."

"Yes, I am aware." He replied. He stretched a bit. "Well, see ya Shirodo-chan." He jogged back on the field.

"Well know you know that jackass." Runo said. "Let's go now." Asuka pointed to him though.

"What happened to you guys? How do you know each other?" She had so many questions. Runo shrugged them off.

"Come on Asuka." She began to walk inside the school building, disappointed in her actions. She got the chance to speak to him, but instead treated him like trash. She hated herself.

She was such a fucking coward.

Chapter 1 End

_Footnotes:_

_1-Vren yagasham krerani, yegan, lyrim fror yega ni, Hydranoid: I summon you from the pits to do my bidding, Hydranoid. _

_2 - Danma/Daniel: I wanted to use Danma and Daniel at the same time for Dan, along with, of course, Dan, so I came up with the excuse that Danma is his formal name, the one on his birth certificate that most people use, Daniel is his nickname that his family uses, and Dan is the one his close friends use. _

_3- Sakka: Sakka is basically "soccer" in Japan. It's more commonly used than Football there, and is based off of, well, "soccer." Say it out loud. You'll hear the resemblance. _

_4- Kyūdō__is the martial arts of archery in Japan. It's known beginnings are in the Yayoi period. Many different schools have clubs for it and a dojo. It's illegal to practice before the age of 15 because it is a dangerous sport. _

_5- muneate: it is a breast protector that female practitioners of Kyūdō__("Kyūdōka") wear to protect their breasts from being hit by the tsuru._

_6- Yumi: A Japanese bow, usually 2 meters tall and usually made out of bamboo._

_7- shitagake: See Mitsugake_

_8- Mitsugake: A three fingered glove worn on the right hand, usually on top of a shitagake, a cloth which would protect the mitsugake from sweat. It is a type of yugake, a glove made for pulling the yumi strings (tsuru) safely. Usually soft thumbed, allowing for more flexibility in shots._

_9- Fudeko-A powder made of burnt rice husks to absorb sweat in the hand that holds the yumi, allowing for it to turn in the archer's hand._

_10- Yazutsu- The quiver for the ya. Usually cylindrical._

_11- Ya - The arrows for the yumi. They are usually gendered. Male ya are called haya and female ya are called otoya. _

_12- Omato - Basically a target with a distance of 60 meters._

_13- Ashibumi - The Kyūdō __manual has 8 stages for the sport. Ashibumi is stage one, or "placing the footing." Kyūdō __is a very precise sport. _

_14- Dan- There are two levels in Kyūdō, Kyu and Dan. To keep it in simplest terms, Dan is for the above average and Kyu is for the average. There are 10 dan levels, 1 being the basic and levels 8-10 reserved for masters. _


	2. Chapter 2

**I've decided to post chapter 2 after seeing the reviews. So I will respond here:**

**To the guest, I've already responded to your review on your review while I was moderating it. This won't be short (the idea I have in mind is _not _meant to be short) and this won't just be Dan x Runo. There will be some, however. But I have many other pairings planned with how many characters I plan on bringing back (hey remember Chan Lee and Julio? Let's just say they may play a part in this story.) **

**To Troth, I did recognize that all the Japanese words would be a problem, especially since they seem to come out of nowhere. I really wish I could have avoided that, but the sport Runo plays helps a lot in future chapters, so describing every little thing about it seemed necessary (it was either that, or I felt it would be hard to describe it in my own words to make it simpler.) I apologize to all readers for that, and I promise that there will be no more of that (well, there may considering what I plan to bring into this story, but I haven't gotten that far enough to know for certain that there will be another surge of random Japanese words.) But I will try hard to avoid doing that in the future. So far, the chapters I've written don't have that much Japanese in it besides the suffixes, and this chapter only has a little bit of Japanese thrown in (but this is only because it seemed necessary.) **

**In the mean time, the guest also told me not to include the suffixes, and I'm assuming it's because you don't know what they mean, so I will explain the common suffixes that will be used currently.**

_**-Chan : It's a cutesy suffix you use for a very cute person and it's mainly used for girls. If one were to use it on a boy, it means they're really feminine (in the eyes of the person using it) or cute in a girly way. **_

_**-Kun : It's a masculine suffix mainly used for boys. If you use it on a girl, that means you see that girl as a rough and boyish girl.**_

_**- San : It's a form of respect. You can compare it to the respect you give someone if you call them "Mr." or "Ms."**_

_**- Sama : Highest form of respect. It's like something you would call your idol, or hero, or someone with a lot of power and influence over you. **_

**Oh yes, before I forget: This story is rated T for a reason. There's a lot of language in here not for kids. I doubt a kid would be reading this, but just a warning for people uncomfortable with curses/cursing in general.**

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><p><em>"As usual, as usual, I begin to question these days being spun. The coming of the end of the world is theorized by practical principals. I exist in the unchanging present." -Plastic Tree, <span>"Setsugekka"<span>_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Dan walked home after kendo practice, bored with not much to think of. His coach had made him do 1,000 strikes with his shinai against all of the targets. It was a tiring feat to accomplish, but he did it with some ease. He had been adamantly practicing since he was young, so even making him do 10,000 strikes against all the targets wouldn't tire him as much as it would any other person.

Kendo was his life, sakka was his soul. It was an on and off thing with those two sports. Dan had great skill in both, when he needed them. It was almost like he had been training his entire life. He was a 9th dan in kendo and midfielder in sakka. Playing these two sports gave him so much of a thrill, and it made him especially happy. He loved the feeling of being in control, of switching up his styles and being that one unpredictable person.

"_Daniel, you need to stop swinging so wildly,_" is what his coaches would say when he first began to learn Kendo.

"_It's my own special style!_" he would retort stubbornly.

While he was thinking about the sports, he didn't notice someone approach him.

"Hey there~." Dan turned to look at a girl-ugh, was she a ganguro? Wasn't that out of style?-with tan skin and bleached white hair. She had blue eyes and wore a way too short skirt and a pink blouse. "Want to join me and my friend for some karaoke?" Dan looked around, not noticing her "friend".

"Um, no thanks-"

"Ami, stop fooling around or we'll be-" Another girl ran over to Dan and the ganguro, but she faltered as she saw Dan. "-late." This girl wasn't a ganguro. No. She was 100% natural. Long silver hair that looked like silk, and big grey eyes on an incredibly beautiful face. Her skin was a natural tan.

"Dan?"

"Julie?" The name left his mouth unconsciously. Woah. She had changed a lot in the last few years. Like her breasts. They had gotten bigger-not that Dan was noticing or anything, but it was kind of hard to miss them. The ganguro looked between the two, who stared at each other.

"Do you two know each other?" She asked. And Julie nodded.

"Yeah." She replied. She then smiled at Dan. "It's nice to see you again." Dan nodded.

"Yeah." He stared at the two girls awkwardly. "Uh, I just left kendo so I need to go home."

"Right. Go ahead. I'll see you later, Dan." Julie said, although he could see in her eyes that she didn't want to say goodbye. He hesitantly walked away from her, not bothering to look back.

It was kind of odd that he ran into Runo and Julie on the same day as his dream. He hadn't seen Julie in about 3 or 4 years, and even though he sits behind Runo in class, he hasn't spoken to her since the beginning of the school year. And even then, it was an exclamation of "What are you doing here?!" instead of an actual conversation. So for him to talk to them both on the same day...it was weird. In his gut he got the feeling that things were going to get weirder.

He made it home just before nineteen hundred. His mom was in the living room doing yoga, and his dad was eating some pudding in the kitchen.

"I'm home." He called as he went straight to his room, waving slightly at his parents.

"Welcome back." Miyako called as she did some weird yoga motion on the floor of the living room. When he reached his room, Dan took off his gakuran and threw his bag on his chair by his desk before he went to his closet to look for a t-shirt and some pants to throw on. However, he stopped what he was doing and went back to his desk, which he passed on his way to his closet. On the desk was a shiny red marble, decorated with gold in some places. Dan leaned over and picked it up, inspecting it.

"Mom must have found it somewhere and thought it was mines." He muttered to himself. He knew the marble wasn't his, because he didn't recognize it. Besides, he stopped playing with marbles when he was 8. He tapped it, trying to see what it was made of. It felt hard and cold, like metal.

"Urg..." that was a groan. Dan looked around, spooked because it wasn't his groan. And if it wasn't his, whose was it?

"Who's there?!" He demanded. No response. "I'm a 9th dan in Kendo! Don't play with me." Still no response. After several minutes of silence, Dan shook it off as his mind playing tricks on him. He focused his attention back on the marble, before tossing it to the side.

"Ow!" It was the same voice that groaned. Dan looked at the direction it came in: the direction he threw the marble. It had landed on the floor underneath his desk. No one was there. Dan's eyes widened and he bent down slowly reached for the marble. He carefully handled it as if it were a bomb, and brought it up to his face.

"...Did you speak?" He questioned. No response. He felt silly asking a marble that, but there was most definitely a-

"...Forgive me, heika." The marble squirmed in Dan's hand. "I am still trying to get used to this form." The marble opened, making out the form of a head, wings, and little claw feet. The voice was gravelly and orotund.

"...What." Dan sat back on his bed, staring at the marble in surprise. "Is this a prank?" He asked aloud, looking around for the source of the voice.

"Danma, do you not recognize me? I am Drago." The marble spoke.

It took a while for the words to process in his mind.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Really? Drago? Now his mind really was playing with him today. Maybe this was some form of post traumatic stress disorder or something. "Drago was my imaginary friend when I was five. He's fictional. He isn't real."

"But I am real. You summoned me earlier." The marble spoke. Dan blinked.

"I what?"

"I believe the reason for me not appearing in my true form is because you only said half of the summoning chant." The marble explained. Dan remembered how earlier he spoke Drago's name. That was the summoning chant?!

"...I need to take a shower." Dan groaned. It was unreal. His imaginary friend from years ago was real and alive now. And instead of the ultra cool dragon he used to be, he was a damn marble.

"Very well then. I will guard you." Drago replied, as if a marble could really protect a 65 kg boy.

"...Yeah you do that." Dan grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom. He took a 30 minute shower, hoping that would wake him from his delusions.

When he came back to his room, the marble was on his desk, waiting.

"I hope your shower was satisfactory-"

"Dammit!" Dan was wide awake now. He now was positive that his imaginary friend was real and a goddamn marble. "You know what?" Dan grabbed his laptop and opened it. After logging in, he opened his video messaging program. "I need a second opinion."

Clicking on the name 'Choji Marakura', the call rang for a few moments. Finally the other person answered. "Hey Dan." Marucho greeted with a smile. Marucho was the only person Dan knew from years before that he kept in contact with. From what Dan could tell, he had just gotten out of the shower. He had a towel slung around his shoulder which he began to use to dry his messy blond hair.

"Maru-chan! Dude, I need your help." Dan exclaimed. "Remember that game we all used to play when we were younger?" Marucho nodded.

"Yeah. Vestroia. I still have the battle logs, I think." Marucho replied. Dan held up the marble.

"Well today I had a dream about one of those times we played. I woke up thinking about my beast-"

"Drago." Marucho remembered, an impressive feat for someone who was so young at the time.

"Drago." Dan confirmed. "Anyway, so I come home right? And this marble is just sitting there on my desk. I pick it up and it talks. The damn thing talks. And it says it's Drago, Marucho. Personally I think I'm going crazy but I need a second opinion." Marucho stared at Dan through the camera for a second.

"I think you're crazy."

"Thank kami." Dan sighed.

"What are you thanking kami for?" The marble spoke, opening itself to reveal the outline of a head with a golden horn on it and little wings. There were even tiny little feet. Marucho and Dan stared at it in disbelief.

"_I didn't do that!_" Dan exclaimed, the marble clearly having been a ball moments before.

"Well I guess you broke reality." Marucho said after a moment.

"But how? And why me?" Dan groaned. "I really could have gone without this."

"I don't know Dan," Marucho said, "this seems really cool to me. I mean, if what you thought up was able to come to life, imagine what other things we thought were fake are real." Marucho was a dreamer. Dan knew that seeing Drago become alive would have Marucho wonder if his own beast Preyas were real.

"Look Marucho-" Marucho stretched.

"Hold on. I'll go get dressed and look through my logs and see if there's anything talking about the beasts coming into reality." Marucho said. His screen blacked out afterwards, replaced by a picture that said 'Sound Only'.

"...Well then, Drago." Dan couldn't help but smile. "I guess it's nice to have you again."

"I can say the same. You went so many years without summoning me." Drago said. "You've grown so much." Dan rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh heh..." Marucho popped up on the screen again, this time dressed. He was wearing pajamas, and his hair was sticking to his forehead, not yet dry. He had several boxes next to him.

"I was only able to find a few logs, but I'm sure they have a lot of explanations." The 15 year old explained.

"A few? That looks like more than a few." Dan pointed out. Marucho waved him off.

"Please. Remember how long we played Vestroia? I only began keeping track of everything near the end." The blond began to dig through the boxes. Dan recalled the logs being used to keep track of important conversations and battles, along with treaties and wars. Marucho pulled out a notebook.

"This one says 'March 2006'." Marucho said. "Want me to read it?" Dan nodded.

"If it can give us some answers." Marucho cleared his throat and turned to a random page. However, after skimming through, he didn't read.

"Dan, I don't think we should read this over camera." He said. "Call it a feeling, but maybe we should meet up tomorrow. There's no school." Dan nodded.

"Alright then. If you say so."

"Come to my house around twelve noon, okay?" Dan nodded once more and the date was set.

Dan closed the computer and turned to Drago. "Well I guess we have some catching up to do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys. I'm a bit sorry for the formatting in this chapter, in order to call Marucho what I wanted Drago to call him, I had to sacrifice the ease of reading in some places. To respond to reviews, AliceGI I will have Shun and Alice romance, although since it's not going to be that huge of a focus for now, I don't think I will really mention it. Maybe in chapter 7 (which is the chapter I do have Shun and Alice appear for a short time) I'll do something like make it noticeable. **

**Please, if you're reading this, don't forget to review your feedback on this! Your feedback means a lot to me in terms of how the story flows.**

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><p><em>"See, I'm closing my eyes,<em>

_And if my wish comes true, the earth will sprout flowers_

_Tomorrow I'll do nothing but dream and leave yesterday behind_  
><em>If I knew that you were smiling somewhere else, I wonder if I would regret it?" <em>

_- Plastic tree, "Aria"_

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><p>"So Maru-chan-sama is very wealthy?" Drago asked as Dan walked to Marucho's home. He was still explaining things to Drago about what changed. Although, Marucho being rich was something that never changed, but Dan had a suspicion that they probably never explained it to the beasts.<p>

"Yea." Dan walked past the pier, a shortcut to his friend's home. The water was crashing against the boardwalk in an almost soothing motion, slow and steady. It was a nice day, sunny and a little breezy. He probably wouldn't mind living another day like this. "Drago. Um, hey. What did you do when I didn't summon you?"

"I would sleep." Replied the red ball. "However when you began to stop calling me, I forcibly woke up to take care of the Pyrus kingdom." Dan's eyebrows furrowed together.

"The "Pyrus Kingdom"?" He muttered to himself. It felt familiar, but he couldn't grasp onto what exactly it was.

"Yes. I have been the one keeping it together and protecting it from otherworldly forces-"

"Wait a minute." Dan cut him off. "You're telling me that everything we thought up was real?" Drago appeared to nod.

"Yes." Dan frowned. He didn't know how to respond. How was he supposed to respond? He suddenly found out everything he thought up as a child was real. It was a shock. "Danma? Is this it?" Dan had unconsciously walked to a skyscraper that took up the area of an entire city block. Dan nodded.

"Yeah." He walked inside. Marucho was in the lobby of the area, waiting on one of the couches.

"Dan!" Marucho stood. The kid was tall, a maybe around 15 centimeters shorter than Dan. His hair was parted in the middle and fell lightly on both sides of his head. He had on his red framed glasses, and wore a black suit.

"Maru-chan! Lookin' classy dude." Dan greeted, giving his old friend a hug. Marucho returned it. Dan grabbed Drago from his pocket. "This is Drago."

"Incredible!" Marucho inspected the marble intensely, not seeming to miss a single detail. "Are you really the beast of the Fire Kingdom, Drago?"

"Maru-chan-sama, you have it wrong. I am the beast of Danma-ōsama. The legendary beast Apollonir is the beast of the Fire Kingdom." Drago corrected him, to his astonishment.

"Perhaps we may need to continue upstairs." Dan nodded.

"Alright." Dan followed Marucho to an elevator, and got inside as the younger boy pressed the button labeled '47'. As they waited in the elevator, Drago wasted no time in commenting on Marucho's appearance.

"You have gotten so tall." He remarked. "Preyas would be happy." Marucho blushed slightly.

"Ah really?" Dan could tell by the way Marucho reacted towards the name Preyas that he didn't remember him all that clearly. He couldn't blame him. It had been around 8 years since he last "interacted" with his imaginary friend. Dan could recall slightly Marucho refusing to do anything without his imaginary friend, and any wars fought involving Marucho, he would hide behind his Preyas.

"Indeed. Tell me, have the others gotten as big as you two?" Drago questioned.

"Well of course. Human beings grow, Drago." Dan chuckled at his innocence.

"Do they change too?"

"With knowledge comes change." Marucho informed. The elevator dinged with their arrival on the 47th floor. Dan grinned when they stepped off.

"So you moved up a few floors?"

"Yes. Father saw the need for expansion, so my previous floor was renovated for use by the cosmetics department." Marucho explained as he began to lead Dan to a room. They walked inside. It was a huge room, spanning two beds, a 228 centimeter smart television hanging on his wall, with room for at least 3 more to fit comfortably. Several desktop and laptop computers were laying around, and a wall video monitor sat by the door. Loose tools and electronic parts were scattered here and there, and there was a window view of the entire city.

"Geez Marucho. Really overdid it this time." Dan commented with a grin upon seeing his friend's room.

"Well of course. I had to make a few demands." Drago seemed fascinated by Marucho's room.

"It's really fit for a king." He commented. He jumped out of Dan's hand, and landed softly on the floor with a low thump. He began to waddle around, looking at everything.

Marucho smiled, before bringing some boxes out from his closet. They were all filled to the brim with notebooks or sketchbooks. "I was quite lucky my mom kept these as a momento of our friendship." He said. "I stayed up late reading them-they were written in my scrawl, so it was a bit hard-and got the gist of them."

"Ah yes, you were talking about logs yesterday," Drago remembered. "What were those?"

"Well you see. We used to value battles and such a lot, and we needed a way to keep track of everything. So we had 'logs', which were accounts of what happened on a certain day." Marucho told the sphere. "The ones I read told me a bit about what we used to do. A lot of battles."

"Did they say anything about Drago being real?" Dan asked.

"Well of course. But it's a bit untrustworthy considering our age. Here, I'll read this page right here." Marucho picked up a book and opened to a page that was bookmarked with a sticky note.

"19th of November, 2005.

Danma-nii and Markus-nii have gotten so skilled in battle. It's because they fight each other a lot. Although Alice-nee tries to keep relations between the Pyrus and Darkus realms okay, they always manage to have some personal battle. Preyas wishes that I were more like them, and he says that they're doing right by preparing themselves! A lot of battles means they're able to spot their weaknesses, he says. Because of that, we're going on a training camp to make sure our grasp on our kingdoms and Vestroia is firm.

"Julie-nee says she feels something uncomfortable in the Perfect Core. She says she doesn't know what, but we need to stay on guard because of it. Runo-nee says she found a way to easily summon Tigrerra. It's a shortened chant that goes: Alkei Nervana Tigrerra! It's also important because it's a chant suited to her, meaning she can only summon Tigrerra. Imagine how it would be if we could all summon our friends simply like that? But their size would prevent them from coming indoors with us..."

"Well?" Dan asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I recorded down Preyas speaking to me, which is minor in all but may play a part. And Runo's shortened chant. Didn't you say you only summoned Drago by speaking his name?" Dan nodded.

"Yeah. So you're saying that since the chant was shortened, I might have summoned Drago on accident?" Marucho nodded.

"Yes. At this point in time, only Runo was able to use a shorter chant. I feel like in later logs, it's explained how everyone else's chants go. Also, the part at the end about how the beasts size would prevent them from coming inside may have something to do with Drago's marble-like appearance." Dan took the information in.

"Okay. Anything about how to make them go away-no offense Drago."

"None that I can see." Marucho told him. "That's why I think we should start reading them. I read half a years worth, but stopped around January 2006."

"Then that's where I'll start." Dan said, and began to look for the notebooks. They spent a hours reading through them all, up until when they stopped playing: August 2006. Dan groaned as he reached the last filled page there.

"Ugh! This is bothersome." He complained. "So far, all I've read are about battles against Alien Invaders called Vestals."

"Nothing about the summoning chants?" Marucho asked. Dan held up a notebook labeled 'March 2006'.

"In here is a list of everyone's shortened chants. January 2006 explains your idea for a way to compress the beasts into a compact form-marble, I'll assume- and therefore make them portable. But that's the only mention about it. Nothing in here about making them go away." Marucho furrowed his eyebrows.

"Odd...I would expect there to be some mention." He muttered. "Unless..." He walked over to one of the boxes and turned it over, emptying its contents. "I wouldn't have stopped there. No...Dan, the battle against the Vestals. Did it ever end?" Dan skimmed through the notebook again.

"Nope, not that I see."

"As I thought." Marucho said. "I suspect that-and Drago, please tell me if I'm wrong, but I suspect that I possibly took it into my own hands to end the battle against the Vestals."

"Are you serious? That's crazy!" Dan exclaimed.

"Not as crazy as our imaginary world coming to life." Marucho replied. "There's no way that I didn't further explore the possibilities of compacting the beasts to a 'travel size'. I had to, Dan. That's the only way Drago would even be here."

"Maru-chan-sama, I will only confirm that the Vestal war ended. By what means...I do not know." Drago admitted. "It could be possible that your interference ended the war, but..."

"If that were to occur, then Dan. There has to be some record. I had to write it." Marucho said. "Look for it." Dan nodded.

"Okay!" They began to look for it, digging through the piles of books. "Hey Marucho."

"Yeah Dan?"

"This has been bothering me, but...when did we name the Kingdoms?" He asked. Marucho stopped his looking.

"I don't recall...it wasn't in these books. By the time I started, we were already using names."

"So...doesn't that mean there's another set of books with answers?" The realization dawned on Marucho's face.

"Yes!" He exclaimed. "Of course! We played for almost four years, yet I only chronicled 1 and a half. Someone had to take log of the other years."

"But who?" Dan questioned out loud. "Drago do you know?" The marble shook.

"Sadly I do not."

"But I do." Marucho said, standing up and looking out the window ('He's really dramatic,' thought Dan).

"Well stop adding suspense! Who was it?" Dan asked.

"Alice-chan."


End file.
